Review comments

Black isnt as great as I expected. I know people that live in the district. That makes it easier, but once again the principal doesn't like to do any extra work, so if you need the school to work with you on something - its a great challenge to get the school to work with you. The school likes to just blame the parents on matters when that's just not always the case. And principal backs the teachers no matter what - even if CLEARLY the teacher made some big mistakes. Almost a mob mentality within the district with faculty and staff.

Sticking it out to see if it gets better. Not overly fond of principal but if the teacher this year was very new to the district. Things will get shifted around next year hoping there will be some improvments.

Not impressed by teachers yet. Maybe next year. Sticking it out one more year to see how it goes. I heard the teachers in higher grades are better then the kindegarden teachers. Was not impressed by kindegarden.

Black Elementary looks like a top performing school, but it will change next year. Its merging with Filmore and next year double the amount of kids will be in the school which is pretty small.
Alot of the "Good" reviews are from the people that live in the district or work in the district.
The school "favors" kids that live in the sub vs. kids that are school of choice. Principal is VERY difficult to work with - I agree with the posts below. She trys to do as little as possible and I have caught her not telling me the truth. This disctrict wont stay at 8 after the schools merge because right now black has a very small town mentality and that will have to change after the merger. The reason its a 8 is from the parents - parents very involved with there kids in the district.

Black Elementary is an outstanding school. It is one of the top performing schools in the district and has been for more than ten years. The staff is highly motivated and maintains high expectations for all students. They work together across grade levels to make sure that students are prepared for what's ahead. Teachers differentiate instruction to meet the needs of individual students and work with intervention teachers to help struggling students. The administrator believes in the teachers making curriculum decisions and encourages them to drive the school improvement process. She supports both teachers and students and also maintains high expectations for all. I will be bringing my child to this school when he is school aged because I believe in this school's ability to not only prepare children for the future, but they make it a truly enjoyable place to learn. The relationships that are built here last far longer than just from grades K-5.

Here's the thing... It could be SO MUCH BETTER. Principal doesn't outright lie about stuff, but she sort of tells only the amount of truth needed to get things to go easily for her. There is excellent parent involvement. I feel like the kids are graded "easily" sometimes to avoid confrontation. Look into latchkey if you are considering Warren Consolidated Schools (some kids are bused to other schools for latchkey). All in all, we're going to hang in there, but I hate that I find myself wondering if I am selling my kids short. A lot of kids transferred out last year, and some of those parents tell me they are so happy they did.